AREA

AREA

Salinas now 21-4

COLUMBUS — Youngstown fighter Alejandro “PoPo” Salinas won the regional silver gloves in Columbus with a second-round stoppage of Mike Walker of Michigan.

Salinas is part of Jack Loew’s Southside Boxing Club and has a record of 21-4.

He will return to the national tournament in Kansas City later this month.

Last year, he finished third in the country.

Prospects on ice

BOARDMAN — Five Mahoning Valley Phantoms hockey players have been selected to play in the Top Prospects Tournament that will at the Ice Cube in Ann Arbor, Mich. Feb. 17-19.

Selected were forwards Chad Boeckman, Derek Graham and Miles Winter, goaltender Garret Bartus and defenseman Eric Ringel.

The event will feature all-star teams from the NAHL’s Central, North and South Divisions, as well as a team from the U.S. National Team Development Program, competing in a three-game, round-robin tournament.

NATION

Hospital to be razed

PITTSBURGH — Demolition of the former St. Francis Central Hospital is expected to begin later this week or next week to make way for a new arena for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The city-county Sports and Exhibition Authority has already razed a dozen buildings to make room on the arena site. The 10-story hospital building is the largest and will make way for a 500-car garage.

Officials say Michigan contractor Homrich Inc. is being paid $868,000 to raze the hospital.

The new $290 million arena will replace Mellon Arena, where the hockey team currently plays.

The Penguins plan to open the new 18,500-seat arena in time for the 2010-11 season.

Many eyes on TV

NEW YORK — The New York Giants’ 23-20 overtime victory over the Green Bay Packers got a 31.7 overnight rating on Fox, the highest for an NFL conference championship game since 1996.

The Giants’ win, which set up a Super Bowl matchup with the New England Patriots, got a 46 share, Fox said Monday. The rating was up 21 percent from the 26.2/46 for the Chicago Bears’ 39-14 win over the New Orleans Saints in last year’s NFC championship, which was in the early time slot.

Sunday’s Giants game received the highest rating for any television broadcast since the Indianapolis Colts’ 29-17 win over the Bears in last year’s Super Bowl.

New England’s 21-12 victory over the San Diego Chargers in the AFC championship received a 27.4/48, down 2 percent from the 28.1/40 for Patriots’ 38-34 loss to Indianapolis in the late time slot last year.

The rating is the percentage of television households in the nation viewing a telecast, and the share is the percentage among those homes with televisions in use at the time.

Overnights measure the largest markets in the nation. National ratings will be released later this week.

NASCAR wants to
focus on racing

CONCORD, N.C. — Conceding that NASCAR gave its core fan base “a lot to digest” through a flurry of radical changes, chairman Brian France wants the focus to return to the track and the drivers who make up America’s top racing series.

“While there’s been a lot of change, most of it for the good, there were a lot of changes that were made that had to be made ... or some changes that were frankly out of our control,” France said Monday.

“We’re getting back to the basics, we’re going to try to minimize the change going forward as best we can and focus on what we’ve always focused on — which is the best product in the world.”

As NASCAR embarks on a 60th anniversary celebration this season — and marks the 50th running of the Daytona 500 next month — its leaders want to find a comfort zone that will attract new fans, maintain its existing base and perhaps even lure back the ones who grew frustrated as the sport moved away from many of its longtime traditions.

So in a season preview address that France has previously used to detail upcoming changes to policy or procedure, he instead stressed the need to give all his recent changes a time to settle.

It’s a far cry from years past, when France kicked off the annual media tour with sport-shaking announcements.

Besides the competition tweaks, NASCAR has also undergone two name changes to its top series.

Liberty Bull wins
inaugural stakes

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — Liberty Bull won the inaugural Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park on Monday, holding off Isabull by a neck.

The $50,000 race for 3-year-olds is named after the horse that nearly won the Triple Crown in 2004. Smarty Jones won over Arkansas fans that year with victories in the Southwest Stakes, Rebel Stakes and Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn before also taking the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.

Liberty Bull, with Eddie Razo aboard, covered a mile in 1:38.15. Isabull was just behind, followed by Rich Young Ruler.

Isabull paid $5.80 and $5, and Rich Young Ruler paid $6.80 to show.

Vindicator staff/wire reports